It is well-known to apply lubricating powders to surgeon's gloves to make an inner surface more slippery to aid in donning. It is almost impossible to don a commercially available rubber surgeon's glove without a lubricating powder.
A glove lubricating powder has to meet several criteria, i.e. capable of sterilization, stand-up under storage, be comfortable to the surgeon, provide a mechanical sliding surface, etc. Because of the problems reported in the literature with the insoluble talc material used in the past in gloves, various alternatives have been proposed to the water-insoluble lubricating powders. Talc has been reported as causing granuloma when small particles of the powder remain in the surgical wound.
It has also been proposed to use powdered polyglycolic acid (U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,458) which would become completely absorbed in the living tissue within 90 days in an effort to overcome granuloma problems. Various other powders of the absorbable type have been used in gloves, including cornstarch.
In an article entitled "The Talcum Powder Problem In Surgery And Its Solution," by Seelig et al in J.A.M.A., Dec. 11, 1943, numerous powders were listed as possible alternatives for talc, with the result that potassium bitartrate was proposed because it had sufficient insolubility to maintain its powdering effect after exposure to moisture. Sodium bicarbonate was dismissed after testing because it was not sufficiently insoluble. It is possible that is also failed because it gave such a grainy feel to the surgeon, even though no article size was given in the test. Currently, the smallest commercially available sodium bicarbonate powder has a particle size of 100 to 200 micron.